The beast's hairless, rubbery body and revolting features have drawn comparisons with the Montauk Monster, the still-unidentified animal photographed on a New York beach last year.

According to reports in Panama, the teenagers spotted the creature crawling out of a cave while playing in the town of Cerro Azul north of Panama City.

Fearing for the safety as it moved towards them, the youths claim they attacked the beast with sticks before throwing its lifeless body into a pool of water.

They returned later to take pictures of the corpse which were then posted on the website of the Central American country's Telemetro television station.

The images have since bounced around various cryptozoology blogs, with several explanations suggested for what it might have been.

A hooked claw visible in one of the photos has been cited as evidence for the popular theory that the creature was a sloth that somehow lost its hair.

The so-called Montauk Monster provoked intense speculation when photos allegedly taken at the Long Island resort where it was washed up were posted on Gawker, the US gossip website.

It was variously identified as a dead dog, a disused film prop and a marketing stunt, but its remains have never been found.

In heaven, everything is fiiiiine...

If no one gets that, then have an even lamer joke.

God: I think Earth is in need of a breath of fresh air. Go, my little favorite hairless claw monster! Go out of your cave and announce your presence to the world! Your message of love will show humanity the way!

Cheeldrenz: OMG WTF IS THAT KILL IT ARGH!!!! QUICK DUMP ITS BODY IN THE WATER WAIT GUYS LET'S POST THIS SHIT IN FLICKR!!!!!!!!!!!

Edit:
Why is everyone saying a dog? That thing looks NOTHING like a dog.
Out of the hundreds of animals in the world, people keep claiming it's a type of dog. Same with that other mutant creature thing that kept washing up on shore. It looked like a pig not a dog. I don't understand how people can mistake THAT with a dog.